Akita is the capital of Akita Prefecture, located north of the Tohoku region. The city is best known for hosting the Kanto Matsuri, a major festival in early August during which festivalgoers balance long bamboo poles with dozens of paper lanterns attached to the end.
Kanto matsuri
The Akita Kanto festival is one of the three major festivals in Tohoku, with Aomori Nebuta Matsuri and Sendai Tanabata Matsuri. It is a traditional festival where strong people called Sashite walk by firmly holding long bamboo poles called Kanto to which paper lanterns are suspended. Kantos are used to pray for abundant crops.
The Kanto festival consists of two events, the Hiru Kanto during the day and the Yoru Kanto during the night. During Hiru Kanto, there are competitions to determine who the Kanto experts are. The main night event is when the Kantos are aligned along one side of Kanto-odori Street, and the participants raise them and shout “Dokkoisho Dokkoisho”. The Sashite participants place the massive and heavy Kanto in or on their palms, foreheads, shoulders or lower back and manipulate them freely while keeping their balance.
Senshu Park
Built on the site of the ancient ruins of the city castle, Senshu Park now houses beautiful Japanese gardens in the center of the city of Akita. From mid-April to the end of April, every year, 730 cherry trees are in bloom and the park has been selected as one of the top 100 cherry flower sighting sites in Japan. Other enchanting performances offered by the gardens include flowering shrubs in the Kogetsu pond from mid to late May, lotus flowers floating on the water of the Otemon moat at the end of July, scarlet autumn leaves and snowy winter scenes.
The park is of historical importance as a site of Kubota Castle, which was the residence of the Satake clan for 267 years from 1602. Visitors can still see the guard post built in the 1700s as well as reconstructed buildings such as a watchtower and the entrance door to the Castle. The Satake Historical Museum at the southern end of the park contains exhibits of valuable historical documents as well as antique weapons and armor.
Other historic sites of the park include the Yojiro Inari Sanctuary with a series of photogenic vermillon tories and the Hachiman Akita Sanctuary whose dove-shaped omikuji are popular with visitors
Michi no eki
The Michi-no-Eki of the port of Akita has an iconic tower. It is a large tourist terminal consisting of three buildings: Port Tower Selion, Selion Risuta and Selion Plaza.
Port Tower Selion is 143 metres high, has an observation terrace at a height of 100 meters and offers a unique and stunning 360 degree panoramic view of the city of Akita. The streets of the city of Akita and the Sea of Japan extend below you, and you can see a distant view of Mount Taihei and Mount Chokai. There is a beautiful view of the sunset in the Sea of Japan! The night view is also splendid. Access to the observation platform is free.
The first floor of the tower has shops and restaurants. There are many delicious dishes of Akita, such as the specialty of Akita Kiritanpo, Inaniwa Udon noodles, Iburigakko and Yokote Yakisoba noodles. Of course, there is also the sake of which the rice-producing prefecture of Akita can be proud. The restaurant with a buffet of side dishes is also popular.
Selion Risuta is an indoor garden. The large building where beams of light cross the fully glazed sides features play equipment and sandboxes, allowing you to play even on rainy days.
Akita Ginsen-zaiku
Akita Ginsen-zaiku is a craft that uses pure silver strands as thin as 0.2 mm to produce delicate jewelry with subtle shine that is silver-specific. Accessories such as pins and pendants are the most commonly manufactured.
Getting to Akita
Buses connect the Akita airport to the Akita station in the city centre (40 minutes, 950 yen one way). The direct Komachi trains on the JR Akita Shinkansen travel between Tokyo and Akita. The one-way trip takes about four hours, costs about 18,000 yen and all seats require a reservation.
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